Bev and Bertie

AGAINST THE ODDS Beverley Flynn and her supporters in jubilant mood following her re-election to Dáíl Éireann in May – in spite of difficulties with the Fianna Fáil party.  Pic: Michael McLaughlin

Fianna Fáil and the politics of the left hand

DeFacto
Liamy MacNally

The battle of the hands continues in Fianna Fáil. The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.
Earlier this year any party member found helping Beverley Flynn during her election campaign would have been unceremoniously kicked out of the party, without exception, according to party headquarters. Such a draconian piece of political manhandling did not go down well in the plain of the yew trees. There was weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Imbecilic annunciations do not draw Mayo people to their knees. These idiotic directions only widen the divide between the east and the west. Not only do such inane pronouncements disregard history, they also ignore tradition, local community life, each person’s capacity to think for him/herself and they pit families and friends against each other.
These daft political directions are one of the greatest insults that can be thrown at any party member. They are a form of colonialism – divide and rule, Fianna Fáil headquarters style.
This is not an apologia for Beverley Flynn. She is best positioned to defend herself. For the past few years the Fianna Fáil headquarters machine has been beavering away, dissolving the Mícheál Ó Móráin cumann in Castlebar because of the Flynn factor and trying to root out Flynn supporters from among its ranks. The party’s attempt was laughable. It was all gung-ho at the start with many a harsh word spoken between the west and the east, and also among members in the west. There seemed to be no neutral ground. You were for the Flynns or against them, which pitted you against party headquarters. Many people became more entrenched and more supportive of the Flynns because of the arrogant and ignorant attitude adopted by headquarters.
Other headquarters supporters could see the writing on the wall – a major party implosion. Others still took the opportunity to divest themselves of political activity because that which they believed in was being walked on and sullied by Mount Street suits suffering from the disease of conceit.   

THE RIGHT HAND 
That was all so long ago! The new wave of thinking from Fianna Fáil headquarters is that Beverley Flynn is nothing short of a saint. Not only is she fit for the Fianna Fáil party but also fit for office. Changing times! Did the unbelievers in Fianna Fáil headquarters have some experience on the Damascus road to Dublin Castle? Their latest edicts informed the unbelievers in the west that salvation lies in re-admitting Beverley Flynn to the party. It came from none other than the leader of the party, who also happens to be the leader of the Government, An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. So what changed for Bertie? Was he rumbled in the jungle on his way to Damascus? Bertie’s pontificating about Bev’s position almost puts the paternal ‘class act’ description by P Flynn of his daughter in the shade. According to Bertie all Bev had to do was sort out a few loose ends like the outstanding RTÉ libel case costs and once the local boys could be whipped back into line then Bob’s your uncle! This is the same man who is wriggling his way through the Mahon tribunal. This is the same man who must explain again his position regarding monies he was given in the ‘90s. This is the same man – the leader of the Government – who has the ignominy of standing before the tribunal in the first place. 

ECCE BERTIE
Behold the man! Bertie Ahern is also the man who has captured the minds and hearts with his charm and his pleasant personality. It has been stated before, one cannot come away from him and not be charmed. He has the charm trinkets in buckets and gives them away at will. Whatever it is, he has it and has it to spare. One has to be cold, hard and distant to maintain a distance when Bertie is in town.  Even more important than any verbal utterings from Bertie regarding Beverley and her capabilities is the news of his deal with her after the election. She was there in those hey days after the election when government formation clouds were heavy in the eastern sky. The white smoke was blasted up with several independents taken into the green folds of the political curia. Absolved from the world of nihilism some spoke of the ‘deal’. One went around waving the deal – signed on paper – like a lotto ticket. Who said the Independents could not be ‘in power’? Bev was last out of the traps once everyone else had their 15 minutes of fame. It is easier to see when the fog has lifted a little. With bated breath and trumpet sound she announced to the world that she had done a deal with Bertie. 

PATRON SAINT OF THE UNDERSPEND
Oh! Rapture! Oh! Bliss! The west would be saved! This is the woman who initially raised concern about the underspend in the BMW Region. Almost €4 billion that should have been spent in the BMW Region was not. The figure is so great we have no comprehension about what it really means. Bev became the Patron Saint of the Underspend.
She rose to the occasion. She interceded and was asked to intercede. For many, she was better than the whole Communion of Saints because she could be seen, heard and touched. Her voice could be heard on the airwaves, her being could be seen on television and her presence could be felt in clinics, at meetings and on the streets. She mastered the world of the underspend like no other. She knew what she was talking about and could verbalise it better than anyone. In verbal jousting on the Dáil floor she always won, hands down. It got to the stage that opposition politicians did not like to debate the issue with her. The reality is that, as an Independent, all Dáil deputies were the opposition!

THE DEAL
Then she announced that she had a deal with Bertie. Immediately, western minds went into overdrive. The Western Rail Corridor would be finished before Christmas. The N5 Westport to Castlebar would be opened before school re-opens in September. The N26 would take a little longer. (That was okay because that was more Dara Calleary country anyway!) The Mayo General A&E, waiting lists, schools, three-phase electricity and broadband were no longer problematic. Solutions were in train. The Corrib gas debacle would be sorted. Some people had the nerve to think that Bev could deliver the Sam Maguire to Mayo. After all, she is a woman and Mayo’s women footballers have many All-Ireland medals. So what was the deal? Then Bertie said there was no deal. Signals got crossed, as they do in Fianna Fáil. More questions, less answers, more confusion. Somewhere along the way dignity got lost, as could be seen by the party’s treatment of Frank Chambers. Selected, but not elected, dignity manifested itself most in Frank Chambers this year. He battled his own crowd more than anyone and got no thanks. What was that about the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing?